Regulator for electric generators



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W. S. HILL.

'REGULATORYFOR ELECTRIC GENERATORS. .No. 378,547. Patented Feb. 28, 1888.

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' REGULATOR FOR ELECTRIC GENERATORS. No. 378,547. Patented Feb. 28,1888.

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v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARREN S. HILL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

REGULATOR FOR ELECTRIC GENERATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,547, dated February 28, 1888.

Application filed April 21, 1887. Serial No. 235,686. (No model.)

namo or magneto electric generator to regum late the force of the current taken therefrom in order that it may be kept as nearly uniform as possible; and it relates particularly to that class of regulators in which the brushes of the commutator-s are mounted loosely upon the axis thereof, and are adapted to be automatically shifted toward or from the neutral points of the commutators as the amount of work re quired of the machine is varied.

In order that the details of my invention may be better understood, I have illustrated the mechanism whereby it is carried out in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a top view of a dynamo-electric generator having a regulator embodying my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

In the drawings, wherein similar letters of reference indicate like parts, A designates the field-magnets, between the poles of which revolves the armature 13, the shaft of which is suitably j ournaled in standards or uprights.

0 represents the commutator, which is borne upon by the brushes D D, carried by arms (I, projecting from a cross head or yoke, E, which is loosely mounted upon the shaft 1) of the armature, so as to have a limited movement thereon in order that the brushes may be shifted upon the commutator, so that they may be made to engage therewith more or less nearly along the neutral lines. The immediate devices formoving the cross-head E, and through it the brushes, I have shown as consisting of an arm, F, projecting from the crosshead, a link, G, connected therewith and uniting it with a link or lever, H, pivotally con nected to and extending upward from the floor or standard of the machine.

Mounted upon a short shaft or arm, 1, proj ecting about centrally from lever H, is a wormwheel, K, meshing above and below with wormthreadcd shafts, presently to be described.

Upon the outer end of the shaft of the armature is a worm, L, which in turn gears with a worm-wheel, M. This wheel is keyed to a shaft, N, upon the central portion of which is the worm-thread n, meshing with wheel K. O is another shaft similar to the one N, and hav ing formed centrally thereon a worm, 0, engaging with the wheel K at a point diametrically opposite the point of engagement with worm n. The two shafts are suitably journaled in a frame, I, whereby they are held in constant and fixed relations to each other. This frame is provided between the two shafts with ways or guides p,parallel to the shafts, and in which is fitted and slides a bOX (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2) carried upon the shaft or arm I. This box serves to maintain the wheel K in uniform mesh with both worms n and 0, whether it be shifted in one direction or the other longitudinally of the shafts.

It will be seen from the above description that if the shafts N and 0 turn with uniform speed in opposite directions the wheel K will simply be turned upon its axis without there being any tendency whatever for it to travel longitudinally of the shafts; but should one shaft be made, from any cause, to revolve more rapidly than the other, a rectilineal movement will be given the wheel K, as well as a rotary, to the left if shaft N rotates the faster, and to the right if shaft 0. Such rectilineal movement, which is rendered par allel to shafts N and O by the ways p and the box engaging therewith, results through intermediate parts, I, H, G, and F, in rocking the crosshead, and hence shifting the contactppints of the brushes with the commutator.

The shaft N, as above described, is driven by the armature B, and for the purposes of this description its speed may be considered as being uniform. The other shaft,O, is driven by the armature-shaft of a small motor, Q, situated in and driven by the current in the circuit of the generator either in shunt or direct. As the strength of the current in this workingcircuit is subject to variation-as, for instance, by the cutting out or in of more or less lamps, supposing it to be used to operate an electriclight system-the speed of this motor Q, will be correspondingly Varied in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art.

From the above detailed description of one isms is varied, so that the device is moved to a greater or less extent by one or the other of such mechanisms, the brushes will be shifted in accordance with such movement, and will thus automatically change the relation of the mechanisms and restore them to their normal condition.

From this it will appear that my invention, broadly stated, may be said to consist in a mechanism driven by the armature direct and another mechanism driven by the current produced by the machine, both of which mechanisms operate upon a device connected with the brushes of the machine in such a manner that when the speed of these mechanisms is the same the brushes will remain stationary, but when the relations between the speed of the worms are varied the device operates to move the brushes in accordance therewith and to vary the amount of current in the circuit of the machine.

It is obvious that there are other well-known mechanical devices which operate upon the same principle as the one illustrated and which are included in the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ]S

1. The combination, with an electric generator, of a mechanism driven by the armature thereof, and another mechanism driven by a motor included in the circuit of the machine, and connections between said mechanisms and the brushes, whereby the position of the brushes may be regulated in accordance with the relations of the speed of said mech anisms, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an electric generator and brush-operating mechanism, of con nections between said brush-operating mech anism and the shaft of the armature, and other connections between said brush operating mechanism and a motor included in the circuit of the machine, the arrangement being such that when said connections operate normally the brushes will be maintained in their proper position upon the commutator, and when the relations of the connections vary the brush-operating device will vary the position of the brushes in accordance with such variations, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an electric generator and brush-operating mechanism, of a worm connected with the shaft of the armature of the machine, and another worm con nected with a motor included in the external circuit of the machine, the said worms operating to control the position of the brush upon the armature in accordance with their relative speeds, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an electric generator and movable brushes, of a system of levers connected to the brushes, connections be tween the levers and the armatureshaft, a motor connected in the circuit of the generator, and connections between the motor and said system of levers, whereby the position of the brushes may be changed in accordance with the Variations of the current in the circuit, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with an electric generator and movable brushes thereon, of a system of levers connected with said brushes, a wheel operating said levers, a worm gearing with the said wheel and connected with the armature-shaft, and another worm also gearing with the said wheel and connected with the motor in the external circuit of the machine, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with an electric generator and movable brushes, of a system of levers connected with said brushes, a wheel connected with said levers, a frame forming a guide for said wheel, 'a worm-gearing mounted in said frame and connected with the armature-shaft of the generator, and another wormgearing also mounted in the frame and connected with a motor included in the circuit of said generator, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WARREN s. HILL.

Witnesses:

CHARLES M. BARNES, FRANCIS B. TIFFANY. 

